Footnotes

PROVENANCE: Purchased directly from Joan by family friends in Bearsden, Glasgow, in the mid-late 1950s, and by descent.

Joan Eardley was an inveterate sketcher of children, often on scraps of paper or sandpaper. Some of these were used as preparatory studies, others just done for pleasure. They have become particularly collectable in recent years.

However, fully resolved and signed compositions on paper are rare and this is an important rediscovery - a highly- worked Glasgow street scene similar to the 'Rottenrow' series, inspired by her photographs of bomb damage, graffiti and boarded up shops. Joan was literally recording social history - the changing face of a city. Executed in watercolour, gouache, ink and chalk, the figures are depicted in a highly expressive lattice of lines and pigment, displaying much in common with the English Neo-Romantics. The artist has also used collage, laying on another sheet to create the kerb effect. The picture utilises also pure colour to great effect - the red brick, yellow street light and particularly vibrant blue she used to underpin Glasgow pictures throughout her career.

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